


Matchmaker

by complicationstoo



Series: STB Bingo Round One [14]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, First Meetings, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:08:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29512980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/complicationstoo/pseuds/complicationstoo
Summary: “Alright, your mission for today is to find the cutest man here and bring him back to me. Think twenties or early thirties with dark hair. No one with an ugly dog, though. It shows bad judgment, and that’s not what we want. Can you do this for me?”Nala thumps her tail against the grass, practically vibrating with the excitement of being allowed to run free, even though she won’t use it to go very far.“So are you really using your dog to find you a date?”
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Series: STB Bingo Round One [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037892
Comments: 24
Kudos: 287
Collections: STB Bingo: Round One





	Matchmaker

**Author's Note:**

> For my Steve | Tony | Bucky Bingo square:  
> O4 - Dog Park

“Hey, Steve,” Bucky calls out, entering his best friend’s apartment. His dog greets him first, her long golden tail wagging with an intensity that propels it into the wall repeatedly with a loud thumping sound. He reaches down to rub behind her ears, murmuring, “Good morning to you, too, Nala. Where the hell is your owner?”

Steve comes out of the bedroom a second later, dressed in his nicest suit, and Bucky whistles, “Look at you, cleaning up so nice.”

Steve rolls his eyes, grabbing his keys off the kitchen counter. “Thanks for taking her. I shouldn’t be gone that long, but you know that it throws everything off if she doesn’t go on Fridays.”

‘Throws everything off’ really just means that Nala looks sad for the rest of the day, and Steve feels guilty for it, but Bucky doesn’t comment on just how much of a sucker Steve is. He already knows, anyway. 

“No problem,” he says, squatting down and scratching under Nala’s chin while she breathes heavily in his face in excitement. “I plan on thoroughly abusing her cuteness to talk to hot guys.”

“Of course you do,” Steve sighs as he sets a small canvas tote near Bucky’s feet with Nala’s things. He runs through his ridiculously long list of instructions as if Bucky hasn’t heard them all before. “Make sure she goes before you let her off the leash, otherwise she never will. The treats are in here, but only give her them when she deserves it. She’s starting to think she gets treats just for looking at me, and it’s becoming a problem. Also, don’t let her go near the pond because she’ll drink the water and make herself sick. If she looks thirsty there’s a water bottle and collapsible bowl in here. Oh, and don’t let her eat anything that someone else tries to give her. She ate a pretzel from someone once and that’s how we found out she can’t have gluten.”

Bucky stares at him while he talks, and when he finishes, he says, “You know I’m only taking your dog to the park for an hour, right? And I’ve done it fifteen times before at least.”

Steve flips him off as he unlocks the door to leave, patting Nala’s head before he goes. “And don’t let her go near that one small white dog, either. They don’t get along.”

Bucky sits on the floor with Nala after Steve leaves to rummage through the bag for her leash. She spins in a circle when he pulls it out and licks a wet stripe on his cheek when he attaches it to her collar. He wipes it off with his sleeve. “Come on, Nal, how am I supposed to impress cute guys with your slobber all over me?”

She pulls him to the door in response, and he laughs while he lets her lead him outside. By the time they’ve reached the dog park two blocks away, she’s already thriving on the attention of strangers. A little girl giggles on the receiving end of affectionate nuzzling, three young women in a group stop to pet her and call her an abundance of sweet names, and an old man spends the twenty seconds it takes for the crosswalk signal to turn rubbing the top of her head.

At the dog park, she immediately finds a bush to do her business in, and Bucky bends down to let her loose. “Alright, your mission for today is to find the cutest man here and bring him back to me. Think twenties or early thirties with dark hair. No one with an ugly dog, though. It shows bad judgment, and that’s not what we want. Can you do this for me?”

Nala thumps her tail against the grass, practically vibrating with the excitement of being allowed to run free, even though she won’t use it to go very far. He unhooks the leash, and she runs over to a few of the other dogs he recognizes from his other times here, catching the attention of their owners, who he waves to. 

“So are you really using your dog to find you a date?” 

Bucky jumps at the voice behind him, turning around to find a man smirking at him. Definitely twenties or early thirties with dark hair, so at least he fits the bill, and his body appears to be toned beneath the charcoal grey suit that’s molded to his body. The man lifts his sunglasses, revealing dark eyes to match his hair, and Bucky only realizes he’s staring when the man’s smirk grows. 

“Technically,” Bucky says, clearing his throat, “I’m using my friend’s dog to find me a date, and you definitely weren’t supposed to hear that.”

The man smiles, “I didn’t mean to, but, well, I was walking by and it’s not every day you hear someone tell a dog to find the cutest man in the park for him, so I couldn’t help but stop to listen to the rest. No ugly dogs, though?”

“I stand by it,” Bucky shrugs. He turns his head to watch Nala running around with a black lab. “But, as you can see, it’s not like she’s following instructions.” He turns his attention back to the man, slowly dragging his eyes down his body in obvious interest. “Although, you’re here, so I guess she doesn’t need to.”

The man laughs as he holds out his hand to introduce himself, “I guess you’re right. I’m Tony, by the way.”

“I’m Bucky, and that’s Nala over there.”

“Nala?” Tony raises his eyebrow. “Like from The Lion King?”

“Yeah, my friend’s a fan of Disney. I tried to talk him into a less obvious reference, but he’s pretty stubborn.”

They watch Nala together for a moment, then Tony asks, “So, do you use her to pick up men at dog parks frequently?”

“No,” Bucky laughs. “She’s usually good for starting conversations, but it’s not, like, a thing that I do. My friend just had an important meeting pop up, and she gets sad if she doesn’t get to see her dog friends on Fridays. It was a joke, really.”

“An effective one, seeing as I’m still here.”

“Yeah, but the problem is that I didn’t really think through what would happen next if it did work,” Bucky says.

Tony does exactly what Bucky was hoping for. “Well, you could ask me for my number, and I’d bet that you would get it.”

“And if I called you later tonight? What would you bet would happen then?” Bucky leans in as he hands his phone over to Tony to put his number in. 

Tony grins, opening the messaging app to send himself a text. Handing it back, he says, “I guess you’ll just have to find out.”

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr [@ifmywishescametrue](https://ifmywishescametrue.tumblr.com) :)


End file.
